African Militants Killed in Syria Fighting Alongside al-Qaeda

As clashes continue across Syria, several north Africans have been killed in the course of fighting alongside an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Idlib province. Nationals of Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania have died in the violence so far, reports Mohamed Ben Ahmed.

The al-Furqan Battalion in the Idlib province in Syria admitted that eight Moroccan and two Algerian members have died in the ongoing fighting in the province.

The al-Furqan Battalion, which is fighting against the Syrian regime alongside the al-Nusra Front — a group that is linked to al-Qaeda — said that two Algerian militants were killed in the ongoing fights in the Idlib province in Syria. The front said in a statement that an Algerian member, called Abu Khaythama by the group, died in an air raid carried out by the Syrian regime. Bulletins containing the names of Arab fatalities among the front’s members said that another Algerian militant was recently killed in military operations in Idlib. The Syrian army killed at least two Algerians, eight Moroccans and a number of Libyans in the past weeks, according to bulletins published on the Internet.

A number of Algerians have joined the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front in Syria, including Abu Khaythama and Abu Omar, who are believed to be former fighters in Iraq and who recently infiltrated Syria to support the front. Information published online and confirmed by sources close to al-Qaeda in Syria said that a third Algerian militant called Bilal was killed several months ago. The list of fatalities included Mauritanian nationals Ammar al-Shanqiti and Abu Abbas al-Tahari, as well as a large number of Libyans, including Khaled Mesrati and Jamal Talwi.

Frequent reports have revealed the names of new fatalities among Arab militants in the al-Nusra Front — called al-Muhajireen (the Migrants) — such as a 30-year-old Moroccan named Abu Salim.

The statement did not reveal any information regarding the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Moroccans and Libyans, but rather reported the killing of the three Tunisians: Abu Khalil, Abdul Rahman and Abu Magida al-Tunisi; and two Moroccans: Sabbar al Maghribi and Abu Taher.